June 26, 2006

So, I just got my new bike. The saddle it came with is not-so-great so I’ve been borrowing the saddle from the girl’s breezer to try out. I decided I liked that one so I was trying to find one just like it. However, no one makes that specific saddle, it was made just for breezer bikes. So I emailed breezer and got a reply from a John Doidge that they don’t normally sell just the saddles but he’d let me buy one if I give them a call.

So, I call up at the number on the website expecting to have to work my way through a voice mail system but instead I get a person, right away and it is in fact John Doidge. I tell him who I am and that I’m calling to order the saddle. He takes my info and then asks me what kind of bike I have and what I like about the saddle. He says other folks have asked about the saddles, too and that they seem to be pretty well liked, over all. He then tells me about the company that makes the saddles and how they got them made, etc, etc. A little bit of a story. Then he asks what I think of the breezer bike we have and where I’m from, where we go it, etc. It was a positively disconcerting experience from a company. I completely expected to be treated like I have been by a lot of companies: A faceless marketing number with no apparent value at all.

Instead I was treated politely and courteously and while I’m sure there are people who could fake that kind of demeanor I don’t think he was faking it. He was just being nice.

June 5, 2006

A couple of people have cited things about this game. That it’s a fun little puzzle game, etc. The thing I’m bothered by is the basis for the premise of the game. It’s sad if this (traffic, not the game) is a major part of a lot of kids’ lives.

The comment I’ll make most simply then is this: I hope and I imagine that someday in the next N years that this game’s premise will be a confusing anachronism for kids.